Bywords.ca statement of inclusivity

Bywords.ca’s mission is to publish the poetry of current and former Ottawa residents, students and workers and to promote Ottawa’s literary, spoken word, storytelling and nonfiction activities. We encourage all those with an Ottawa connection to submit unpublished poetry and reviews of recent Canadian poetry chapbooks and books. We particularly welcome the work of writers of colour, 2SLGBTQIA writers, disabled writers, Indigenous writers, women and gender non-conforming writers. We acknowledge and are outraged that your voices have been ignored and often are still silenced by the Canadian literary establishment and wish to do our part to end the suppression and oppression of those who have been marginalized in Canada. If you have ideas on how we can improve this statement or do more to show our commitment to the representation of diverse writers, please e-mail me, Amanda Earl, Managing Editor at amanda@byword.ca.